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Conciergerie

The medieval royal palace that became the Revolution's prison

Conciergerie
Photograph: King of Hearts / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Conciergerie is the surviving lower half of the medieval royal palace on the Île de la Cité, later turned into the Revolution's main prison. Marie-Antoinette was held here before her execution in 1793, and her cell is reconstructed as part of the visit. The draw is the Salle des Gens d'Armes, an enormous early fourteenth-century Gothic hall that is one of the oldest surviving secular interiors in Europe.

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Getting there

Metro line 4 to Cité is the closest station, two minutes on foot. From Châtelet it is one stop on line 4 or an eight to ten minute walk across the Pont au Change. Lines 1, 7, 11 and 14 at Châtelet all put you within that walk. RER B and C stop at Saint-Michel Notre-Dame, five minutes away on the Left Bank side. The entrance is on the Boulevard du Palais, not on the river quay where the famous towers are.

What you see

You enter into the Salle des Gens d'Armes, a vaulted hall of four aisles on heavy columns, built as the dining and working hall for the palace staff. Off it is the smaller Salle des Gardes, and the old kitchens with their four corner fireplaces. The route then moves into the prison section: the corridor of cells, the Galerie des Prisonniers, the registry where arrivals were logged, and a wall of names listing those sent from here to the guillotine. The reconstructed cell of Marie-Antoinette and the expiatory chapel built on its site are the point most visitors come for. Along the way, interactive tablets overlay the vanished upper palace onto the rooms you are standing in.

What to pair it with

Sainte-Chapelle is in the same palace complex, a two minute walk, and is the usual pairing. Notre-Dame is five minutes east along the island, and the Pont Neuf is five minutes west.

When to go

Mornings soon after opening are the calmest. Midday to mid-afternoon is busiest, partly because people come straight on from the queue at Sainte-Chapelle next door. The interiors are stone and artificially lit, so weather and season barely change what you see, which makes it a sound choice for a wet or cold day. The Paris Museum Pass covers it, and a combined ticket with Sainte-Chapelle is normally available.

What is hard about it

What you see is a fragment: the grand upper floors of the palace are gone, and much of the prison area is reconstruction rather than original fabric. The Marie-Antoinette cell in particular is a nineteenth-century recreation on an approximate site, which disappoints people expecting the real room. Security screening at the palace entrance means a queue even with a timed ticket, and it is shared with Sainte-Chapelle. The halls are cool and echoing, labelling is sparse in places without the tablets, and an hour is about all there is.

Common questions

How long do you need at the Conciergerie?

About an hour covers the halls, the prison rooms and the Marie-Antoinette section without hurrying. Half an hour is enough if you only want the Salle des Gens d'Armes.

Should I buy a combined ticket with Sainte-Chapelle?

If you intend to see both, yes, it is normally cheaper than two separate tickets. Book a timed slot online before you go, as both sites use them.

Is the Conciergerie suitable for children?

Older children interested in the Revolution tend to engage with it; the subject matter is executions and imprisonment, so judge accordingly. The tablet overlays help hold attention.

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